Not So Lucky
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: After reading about the magic of Hikawa good luck charms in one of her magazines, Ran heads to Juuban to get one for herself, and, hopefully, pass her English test. Super GALS & Sailor Moon crossover.


Not So Lucky

"Okay, Ran, we're here, so what's with this sudden urge to go to Juuban?" Miyu asked as she, Ran, and Aya got off the train at the Juuban station. "You rarely ever want to leave Shibuya, especially now with Mami Honda around, trying to take your place as the number one gal."

"Can't a gal want a change of scenery every once in a while without you two acting like it's some kind of federal offense?" Ran asked innocently. She was rather enjoying making her friends guess the true purpose of their trip to the Juuban area of Tokyo.

"Sure, when there's some big event happening or something, but you've always said Juuban was a total bore," Aya reminded her.

"Did I?"

Aya and Miyu both rolled their eyes, a sure sign they were getting exasperated with her. Deciding that she had kept them hanging for long enough, Ran finally spilled the beans.

"Okay, the truth is, I wanted to visit a shrine here."

"A shrine?!" her two friends exclaimed in unison.

It was Ran's turn to roll her eyes. Honestly, they were acting as if she had suddenly told them she was an alien from another planet. "You guys don't have to act so shocked about it."

"But when do you ever want to go to a shrine outside of New Year's?" Miyu asked.

"And why a shrine in Juuban?" Aya added. "There are shrines in Shibuya, too."

"This one's special," Ran insisted, pulling out the article she had torn out of one of her magazines from her purse and holding it up for them to read. "See?"

According to the article, there was a small shrine in Juuban called Hikawa where the good luck charms they sold were rumored to be extremely potent. One gal claimed she won a trip to Fiji in a street raffle right after purchasing one of the charms, while another one swore that her love charm was the reason why she had landed her GL boyfriend. Ran had never really put much stock in shrine-bought good luck charms, but she had to admit it seemed like the ones at Hikawa really worked.

"I'm going to buy one of these good luck charms and pass our English test tomorrow," Ran declared confidently, already thinking ahead to what she would buy with the raise in allowance her father had promised if she passed the test.

Aya raised a doubtful eyebrow. "Ran, don't you think a more reliable way to pass the test would be to actually study?"

"As if. Like I have the time to study. Besides, when did you suddenly become a nerd again? Aren't you the one who skipped her cram school classes to come with us?"

"Skipping cram school is not the same thing as completely ignoring your studies like you do. It wouldn't hurt you to at least read the chapter for once."

"Miyu agrees," Miyu said.

With a sigh, Ran crammed the article back in her purse. What was the world coming to when even Miyu was telling her to study? "Fine, if you don't believe in the mystical power of the Hikawa good luck charm, then I'll just go by myself," she huffed, power-walking ahead of them.

"Ran, wait!"

It didn't take long for Aya and Miyu to catch up with her, and Ran smirked. She knew they would eventually see things her way.

Since none of them knew Juuban that well, they decided to take a bus to Sendaizakaue, the neighborhood where the Hikawa Shrine was located. On the way there, Aya told them about the creepy bus disappearances that had happened in the area a couple of years ago, a case Ran vaguely remembered her father, a detective, working on. Though the police never were able to capture the kidnappers, everyone who disappeared mysteriously returned unharmed a few hours after the last kidnapping.

"Miyu is kind of scared now," Miyu said, hugging herself once Aya had finished telling the story. "Miyu never realized Juuban was such a dangerous place. What if we end up being kidnapped?"

"Don't worry, Miyu," Ran assured her. "Nobody would dare mess with Super Gal Ran Kotobuki."

"Besides, that was a long time ago," Aya reminded them. "This isn't even the same bus that was involved in the disappearances, so we have nothing to worry about. Oh, look, I think our stop is coming up."

Sure enough, the bus driver announced over the intercom that the next stop would be at the Hikawa Shrine. Ran and her friends made their way to the front of the bus, following a group of girls in sailor-style school uniforms who also must have been heading to the shrine. One of them had the strangest hairstyle, like she had two meat buns stuck to the side of her head, and Ran couldn't resist snickering behind her hand.

When the bus stopped, they all got off, though the girls from another school took their time making their way up the long staircase up to the shrine. Ran, Aya, and Miyu easily passed them by, reaching the top long before they did despite being behind them when they got off the bus. Spotting the booth where the charms were being sold, which was manned by a beautiful dark-haired miko around their age, Ran ran over, the other two girls not too far behind.

"May I help you?" the miko asked.

"Yeah, I need one of those good luck thingamajigs," Ran said, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow.

"You mean a good luck talisman?"

"Yeah, that. The thing they were talking about in the magazine."

"Those have been quite popular lately. I'm not sure if we have any left in stock," the miko said, turning around and looking through their inventory. "Let me see… Ah, we have one left."

"Lucky!"

"That will be a thousand yen."

For a moment, Ran's face dropped, not expecting it to cost so much, but, reluctantly, she pulled out her wallet and paid for the charm, consoling herself with the thought of it as an investment for the future. After all, once she passed the test with the charm's power and got the raise in her allowance, she would be able to buy as many charms as she wanted.

The other two bought charms as well, although in their cases, they were both love charms. Miyu was hoping hers would help Ran's older brother Yamato finally find the guts to kiss her, while Aya blushed and mumbled something about Rei Otohata as she put her charm away. By the time they were done making their purchases, the other group had finally made it up to the shrine, and the odango-haired blonde called out, "Rei-chan!" to which the miko returned a small wave. The girls must have been friends of hers, so Ran and her friends decided to leave, Ran tightly gripping her charm in her hand all the way back to Shibuya.

_Please, please let me pass Naka-teach's test tomorrow, _she prayed silently to herself. _Please!_

* * *

"Kotoboki?"

"Hiya, Naka-teach!" Ran said the next morning, her fellow classmates laughing at the shocked look on their teacher's face when he walked into the classroom and saw that Ran not only arrived on time for once, she was actually early. The bell signaling the beginning of the school day wasn't due to ring for another five minutes.

Taking off his glasses, Mr. Nakanishiwiped the lens with the bottom of his shirt, then put them on again, his eyes tearing up when he saw that she was indeed real and not a figment of his imagination. "Kotobuki, you have made your teacher proud," he wept, wiping away the tears streaming down his face. "Oh, happy day!"

"Geez, all I did was get here a little early," Ran reminded him as she filed her press-on nails. "You don't have to get so carried."

"Nevertheless, I will remember this day for the rest of my life. Is it too much to hope that you actually did your homework as well?"

"Well, I was going to do it, but, on the way home from school, I saw this little girl who had lost her dog, Pochi. Being the nice girl I am, I decided to help her find him, but it turned out that he had been dog-napped by this crazy lady with weird hair who wanted to make a coat out of him! So, me and the little girl followed her all the way to London, where we --"

Mr. Nakanishi, losing his good mood, frowned and pulled out his special "For Ran Kotobuki" paddle. "Kotobuki, what's the real reason you didn't do your homework?"

"Me and some friends went shopping in Juuban," Ran admitted, raising a pointed finger when she saw her teacher raising the paddle. "Wait, though, before you get too mad at me, look what I bought there." She pulled the good luck charm she brought at Hikawa out of her pocket and showed it to him. "See? This thing is guaranteed to help me pass today's test. You'd like that, wouldn't ya, Naka-teach?"

"A passing grade?" Again, he teared up. "I've never dared to dream of such a day!" Mr. Nakanishi put the paddle away, rubbing his sleeve across his watery eyes as he composed himself. "Kotobuki, I'll ignore your missing homework if you live up to your claim. Pass this test, and I won't give you detention. But if you don't, it'll be detentions for the rest of this week. Deal?"

He held out a hand, which a confident Ran didn't hesitate to shake. After all, with a Hikawa good luck charm in her possession, there was no way she would lose. "Bring it on!"

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class. After taking attendance and gathering up the homework from the students who actually did it, Mr. Nakanishi passed out the exams, which Ran was glad to see was multiple choice. She placed her good luck charm on the corner of her desk and pulled out a sparkly pencil before starting.

_Lessee,_ Ran thought, looking at the first question. _In the sentence, "Skiing is my favorite sport," which word is the verb? Duh, verbs are action words, so it has to be "skiing."_

Ran filled in the circle beside "C. Skiing" and moved on to the next question: _What is the subject of the sentence, "My favorite class is math?"_

_Another easy one, _Ran thought, marking the circle for "math." _Man, that charm really must be working! This is uber simple!_

She flew through the rest of the test, amazed by how many of the answers she actually knew. There were a couple of questions that gave her trouble, but all she had to do was look over at her charm and suddenly the correct letter popped into her head. By the time she had finished, Ran wasn't just hoping for a passing grade; she thought she did well enough for an "A".

"Hey, Naka-teach, grade this," she ordered, going up to his desk and holding her answer sheet in front of his face.

"Kotobuki, you are supposed to remain seated until everyone in the class has finished their exams," he reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah, but I really, really want to know how I did. Please?"

Sighing, Mr. Nakanishi took the paper and pulled out his trusty red grading pen. He motioned for her to turn around so she couldn't see the answer key, then began grading while Ran waited with as much patience as she could muster.

"Well?"

"Kotobuki, I can honestly say that you've surpassed yourself," he announced as Ran turned around.

"Really?"

"Indeed. You've achieved quite a feat -- every answer wrong. I didn't even think that was possible on a multiple choice test."

"What?! That can't be right!" Ran exclaimed, snatching her paper from his hands. A bright red zero was written in the top right corner. "Nooooo!"

So much for her raise in allowance.

DISCLAIMER: "Super GALS" doesn't belong to me. Rei Hino and the Hikawa Shrine were borrowed from Naoko Takeuchi's "Sailor Moon" and also don't belong to me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you enjoyed my first "Super GALS" story, written for the .moon Spring Challenge - Luck.


End file.
